Hypodermic syringe with lockable needle holder



Sept. 23, 1969 J. DREWE 3,468,30

HYPODERMIC SYRINGE WITH LOCKABLE NEEDLE HOLDER Filed April 4,, 19673,468,309 HYPODERMIC SYRINGE WITH LOCKABLE NEEDLE HOLDER John Drewe,Sandon, Buntingford, England, assignor to Globampoule A.G., Chur,Switzerland Filed Apr. 4, 1967, Ser. No. $8,461 Claims priority,applicatligns 6072a; Britain, Apr. 15, 1966,

Int. Cl. A61m /16, 5/32 US. Cl. 128-216 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A hypodermic syringe of the kind comprising a collapsiblecontainer with closed-ended nozzle at one end. A needle holder withfixed, double pointed needle is screw threaded onto the nozzle for thepurpose of displacing the needle toward the container in order that theneedle may pierce the closed end of the nozzle. A needle cover is pushfit over the needle holder and has at least one projection whichprojects, through a slot in a laterally projecting part of the needleholder, into engagement with part of the container, thus serving aslocking means to prevent axial displacement of the needle.

This invention relates to hypodermic syringes generally and especiallyto syringes of the kind comprising a col lapsible container of plasticsmaterial and a hypodermic needle which is adapted to be connected to thecontainer by one of its ends, so that the bore in the needle is incommunication with the interior of the container.

The invention is concerned primarily with hypodermic syringes of thiskind in which the container is filled with a predetermined quantity of aliquid medicament and is hermetically sealed before being fitted withthe needle, but it is also concerned with syringes used for taking andstoring specimens of blood or other body fluids, in which case thecontainer, before being sealed, may be Wholly or partly filled with airor may be collapsed and evacuated. In both cases, the sealed containerwill be produced by the manufacturers under sterile conditions.Hitherto, however, difliculty has been experienced in avoiding a breakin the sterile chain during the period beginning with the fitting of theneedle on the container and ending at the moment when the needle isinjected into the body of a patient.

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved mountingfor the needle whereby this difliculty is avoided and a further objectis to enable the needle to be mounted on the container in an inoperativeposition in which it is isolated from the interior of the container andto be disengageably secured in this position until the syringe is to beused, whereupon it can be released and moved into an operative positionin which its bore is in communication with the interior of thecontainer.

With these objects in view, the hypodermic syringe according to thisinvention makes use of a hypodermic needle which is pointed at both endsand is mounted in a needle holder having a disengageable screw-threadedconnection With a closed-ended nozzle on the container, and also havinga closed-ended needle cover removably applied over it as a push fit, theneedle being fixed in the needle holder so that one of its pointed endsprojects a substantial distance into the interior of the needle cover,while its other end porjects a short distance from its mounting in theneedle holder in the direction towards the container and the arrangementbeing such that the needle (after disengagement of locking means whichwill be referred to below) is axially displaceable, by tightening thescrew connection from an inoperative position, in which its said otherend is clear of the closed end of the United States Patent 0 3,468,309Patented Sept. 23, 1969 nozzle, so as to pierce the closed end of thenozzle and assume an operative position in which communication isestablished between the bore of the needle and the interior of thecontainer. The hypodermic syringe according to this invention isadditionally provided with locking means whereby the needle can beretained against displacement from its inoperative position until thesyringe is required for use, which locking means consists of at leastone projection on the needle cover adapted, when the needle cover isapplied, to project through a slot in a laterally projecting part of theneedle holder into engagement with part of the container.

In one preferred form of the invention, the lower end part of theprojection on the needle cover is adapted, in the locked position, toengage in a locking recess formed in a part Which is rigid with thecontainer and which may be a laterally projecting base flange on thecontainer nozzle. In this case, the locking means acts positively toprevent relative rotation between the needle holder and the containeruntil it is disengaged by pulling the needle cover off the needleholder.

In an alternative form of the invention, the needle cover has twosymmetrically arranged locking projections, the lower ends of which areadapted, in the locked position, to be frictionally engaged with anannular surface surrounding the base of the container nozzle. In thiscase, after the needle cover has been fitted on the needle holder withits projections projecting through slots in laterally projecting partsof the latter, the assembly of the component parts with the needle inits inoperative position is effected by screwing the nozzle of thecontainer into the needle holder until a firm resistance to furtherscrewing, due to engagement of the ends of the projections with the saidannular surface, is felt. Subsequently, when the syringe is to be used,the nozzle is screwed further into the needle holder until the needlepierces through the closed end of the nozzle. During the last-mentionedoperation, the needle cover is forced off its sealing on the needleholder.

Alternatively, the needle cover may be pulled off its sealing on theneedle holder, prior to such further screwing in of the nozzle to effectthe piercing of the closed end of the nozzle.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary exploded view, partly in section and partly inelevation, showing the nozzle end part of a syringe ampoule, a needleholder and a needle cover according to a preferred embodiment of thisinvention,

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view, of the needle holder,

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the syringe ampoule,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of the needle cover as viewed in adirection at right angles to the direction of the view of the needlecover shown in FIG. 1, and

FIGS. 5 to 7 inclusive are views, corresponding to the views shown inFIGS. 1, 2 and 4 respectively, of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

The same references are used to indicate parts of the assembly shown inFIGS. 5 to 7 as are used to indicate like parts of the assembly shown inFIGS. 1 to 4.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, an accordion-pleated, bellows-type ampoule 11is provided at one end with a nozzle 12. At its base end, the nozzle 12is provided with a flanged base 13 having an arcuate cut-out 14 and atits delivery end it is closed by a transverse wall 15. The nozzle 12also has an external screw thread 16 which cooperates with a screwthread 17 on the wall of a bore 18 of a needle holder 19. Integrallyformed on the lower end of the needle holder 19 is a base flange 21having two oppositely projecting lateral extensions 22. An arcuate slot23 similar in radius and arcuate length to the cut-out 14 is formed inthe base flange 21. Mounted coaxially in a solid upper end part 25 ofthe needle holder 19 is a hypodermic needle 24 which is pointed at bothends. On the circumferential parts of the base flange 21 between thelateral extensions are arcuate stiffening flanges 26. The solid upperend part 25 of the needle holder 19 is tapered inwardly in the directiontowards its upper end to provide a seating for the hollow cylindricallower end part of a needle cover 27 which is closed at its other end(not shown). Part of the wall of this hollow cylindrical lower end partis extended downwardly to provide a locking projection 28, thecross-section of which is such as to enable the lower end of thisprojection 28 to be engaged as a free sliding fit in the cut-out 14.

The main component parts shown in FIG. 1 are assembled as follows.First, the nozzle 12 of the amoule 11 which at this stage is empty, isscrewed into the needle holder a suffcient distance to ensure a strongconnection between the screw-threads 16 and 17, but not far enough tocause the point on the lower end of the needle 24 to pierce thetransverse top wall 15 of the nozzle 12. Then, after making sure thatthe slot 23 is in register with the cut-out 14, the needle cover 27 isslid axially onto the tapered seating on the solid upper end part 25 ofthe needle holder. Before the lower end of the projection 28 descends tothe level of the top surface of the base flange 21, it is rotated, ifnecessary, to bring this projection 28 into register with the slot 23and the cut-out 14. During the last part of the descent of the needlecover 27, the projection 28 thereof passes through the slot 23 andengages in the cutout 14. The ampoule nozzle 12 is now locked againstrotation in either direction with respect to the needle holder 19 andcan only be freed for such rotation by the removal of the needle cover27. Moreover, so long as the assembly remains locked, the pointed lowend of the needle 24 cannot pierce the transverse wall 15 on the upperend of the nozzle 12.

The arcuate lengths of the slot 23 and cut-out 14 are slightly greaterthan that of the cross-section of the lower end part of the projection28. Consequently, when the component parts are assembled and looked asdescribed above, the needle cover 27 can still be rotated through asmall angle. This is necessary, both to ease assembly and to enable theneedle cover 27 to be removed more easily from its seating on the needleholder by slight back and forth rotation as well as a straight pull.

The completed assembly, comprising the ampoule 11, 12, in needle holder19' and the needle cover 27, is next sterilized, after which the ampoule11 is filled under sterile conditions with a liquid drug or the like(or, in the case of a blood sampling device or the like, wholly orpartly filled with air or evacuated) through an opening (not shown) atthe end thereof remote from the nozzle 12, which opening is then sealed.From this moment until the syringe ampoule has to be prepared for aninjection, the contents of the ampoule 11 and the needle will beprotected against contamination and the needle will be securely held outof contact with the said contents.

To prepare the syringe ampoule for an injection, the needle cover 27 isfirst removed, thereby freeing the needle holder 19 for rotation withrespect to the ampoule 11 and its nozzle 12. The user then screws thenozzle 12 into the bore 18 of the needle holder, so that the lowerpointed end of the needle 24 pierces the transverse wall 15 and therebyestablishes communication between the interior of the ampoule 11 and thebore of the needle 24. As soon as this has been done, the syringeampoule is ready for use.

The construction and arrangement of the component parts of thealternative embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7 are similar to thoseof the corresponding component parts of the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 1 to 4, except in the following respects. The flanged base 13' ofthe nozzle 12 in FIG. 5 is thinner than the flanged base 13 of thenozzle 12 in FIG. 1 and has no arcuate cut out corresponding to thatshown at 14 in FIG. 1. The base flange 21 of the needle holder 19 in thealternative embodiment according to FIGS. 5 to 7 is formed with twoarcuate slots 23', which are arranged symmetrically on opposite sides ofthe main, upwardly projecting part of the needle holder, instead ofhaving only one slot 23 as in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 4.Finally, the needle cover 27 in the alternative embodiment has twoprojections 28' (see FIG. 5) instead of only one projection 28 as shownin FIG. 1.

The assembly procedure with the alternative embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 5 to 7 is somewhat different from that already described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The first operation, in the case of thisalternative embodiment, is to fit the needle cover securely over theneedle holder 19 with the projections 28 projecting downward through theopenings 23' in the base flange 21. After this has been done, theampoule nozzle 19 is screwed into the needle holder until the lower endsof the projections 28' abut against the top surface of the flanged base13', whereupon the screwing is discontinued. As soon as the projections28' abut against the top surface of the flanged base 13, the user willbe made aware that the assembly is complete by encountering an increasedresistance to screwing.

The dimensions of the various component parts are so chosen that, whenthe lower ends of the projections 28 are abutting against the topsurface of the flanged base 13', the pointed lower end of the needle 24will be located a short distance above the top surface of the transversewall 15 of the nozzle 12.

When the syringe ampoule according to FIGS. 5 to 7 is to be used, theampoule nozzle is screwed further in, thereby forcing the needle cover27 oft the tapered seating on the needle holder 19. As soon as thisoccurs, the increased resistance to further screwing disappears.Thereafter, the screwing in is continued until the nozzle 12 is fullyhome in the bore 18 of the needle holder and the transverse wall 15 onthe upper end of the nozzle has been pierced by the pointed lower end ofthe needle 24.

In an alternative (not illustrated), a annular recess is moulded in theend of the container which faces towards the needle cover and the needlecover has a single projection which is passed through a slot in a flangeon the base of the needle holder and is adapted to be engaged in thesaid annular recess to prevent screwing in of the needle holder beyondthe inoperative position until the needle cover is removed.

It will be apparent that the locking devices which have been describedin connection with a collapsible syringe ampoule can also be used withrigid syringe bodies which are filled and emptied by the operation of aplunger. It is necessary to provide for piercing of the end of thesyringe body by the needle and for this purpose a container of glass orrigid plastics material can be fitted with a thin diaphragm of plasticsmaterial.

I claim:

1. A hypodermic syringe of the kind comprising a collapsible containerof plastics material and a hypodermic needle which is adapted to beconnected to the container by one of its ends, so that the bore in theneedle is in communication with the interior of the container, whereinthe needle, which is pointed at both ends, is mounted in a needle holderhaving a disengageable screw-threaded connection with a closed-endednozzle on the container, and also having a closed-ended needle coverremovably applied over it as a push fit, the needle being fixed in theneedle holder so that one of its pointed ends projects a substantialdistance into the interior of the needle cover, while its other endprojects a short distance from its mounting in the needle holder in thedirection towards the container, the needle being retained againstdisplacement from its inoperative position in which the said other endis clear of the closed end of the nozzle by locking means consisting ofat least one projection on the needle cover projecting through a slot ina laterally projecting part of the needle holder into engagement withpart of the container and the arrangement being such that, afterdisengagement of said locking means, the needle is axially displaceablefrom its inoperative position so as to pierce the closed end of thenozzle and assume an operative position in which communication isestablished between the bore of the needle and the interior of thecontainer.

2. A syringe according to claim 1, wherein the lower end part of theprojection on the needle cover is adapted, in the locked position, toengage in a locking recess formed in a part which is rigid with thecontainer.

3. A syringe according to claim 2, wherein the part which is rigid withthe container is a laterally projecting base flange on the containernozzle.

4. A syringe according to claim 1, wherein the needle cover has twosymmetrically arranged locking projections,

2,676,591 4/1954 Fox 128-216 FOREIGN PATENTS 117,415 8/ 1943 Australia.960,794 3/ 1957 Germany. 1,030,861 4/ 1966 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner M. F. MAJESTIC, Assistant Examiner

